Winter Sequin Look – How to Convert a Dress into a Skirt

We all have those fantastic pieces in our collection that go constantly overlooked. Recently I’ve been attempting to sort through my clothes and part with anything that doesn’t fit my style or is a bit worn out. However, this practice has revealed a third category of neglected clothing, the tragically uncomfortable but insanely beautiful. Most of these are sequined, maybe it’s the magician or the children’s entertainer in me that craved sparkly garbage, but it can’t be helped.

I’ve had this amazing navy blue sequined dress for over a year now. I thrifted it in Reno and it was love at first sight, unfortunately, when I got it home the relationship became somewhat hostile. The tiny scratchy sequin which had been used in the garment combined with the cut of the dress to add up to a sort of cheese grater effect. It would scrap up my underarms and chest after an hour of wear, epic dress fail.

I see this in some of the sequined outfits to come out of the “fast fashion” industry all the time; built to look amazing on the rack but wears like a monk’s hair shirt. So toss it? No! The sparkle is just too amazing, it must be saved! What to do? Hmm…….Ahh!

With just a couple snips and a quick run through the serger this torture device is transformed into a stylish high-waisted skirt.

Simply measure and pin the best place for your cut, either on a dress form, against another high-waisted garment or right on your body. Zip the zipper down so you can still use it to fasten your new skirt, cut with very sharp fabric shears, turn inside out and surge the seam along the waist line. Stick up the new top of the zipper and tada! Skirt!

Paired with grays and blacks you can dress down the sparkle for everyday casual wear. I’ve added some layers to help make it winter-worthy and made this shirt a comfortable and elegant addition to my wardrobe.